Meet the SRT Viper’s new supercar cousin – LaFerrari

This morning at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, fellow Fiat SpA subsidiary Ferrari introduced the most powerful supercar in the storied history of their brand and because this isn’t just a Ferrari, the company has opted to name it LaFerrari – The Ferrari. Mind you, this car isn’t the Ferrari LaFerrari but rather, it is to be known simply as LaFerrari and while the name has drawn quick criticism, there is little to criticize about the car itself.

The LaFerrari enters the brand lineup as the newest Limited Edition Special Series of vehicles that also included the GTO, the F40, the F50 and the Enzo so it should come as no surprise that this car is both insanely powerful and incredible high tech.

The heart of this beast is a high revving 6.3L V12 that makes 789 horsepower at 9,000rpm and 516lb-ft of torque at 6,570rpm with a redline of a whopping 9,250rpm. This engine alone makes LaFerrari one of the most powerful cars in the brand’s history but the engineers didn’t stop there – fitting the midship engine with a high performance hybrid kinetic energy recovery system (HY-KERS) that adds 161 horsepower for a total system output of 950 horsepower. Better yet, while Ferrari hasn’t quoted the exact torque figure for LaFerrari when the HY-KERS assist kicks in but the company promises a total torque output of greater than 664lb-ft.

When combined with the high tech aerodynamic engineering applied to both the body and undercarriage of LaFerrari, this new halo supercar can go from a stop to 62 miles per hour in under 3 seconds and it will get to 125 in less than 7 seconds. Also, LaFerrari will offer driver’s a top speed of 217 miles per hour but thanks to the HY-KERS hybrid assist setup, this is also one of the most efficient and non-polluting supercars in the company’s history. On top of that, LaFerrari is more powerful, runs cleaner and is expected to offer better fuel economy figures.

What will be most interesting is whether or not the LaFerrari will be able to turn out better real world performance figures than the 2013 SRT Viper. In August 2008, the 2009 Dodge Viper ACR and the Ferrari Enzo took to the Nürburgring, with the Viper coming out with a record that was over 3 seconds quicker than the times of the Enzo. Ferrari has stated that LaFerrari is several seconds faster around the company’s Fiorano test track but it will need to be fast enough to shave some 13 seconds off of the best time of the Enzo to best the previous generation Dodge Viper. While the 2013 SRT Viper hasn’t made its Nürburgring rounds just yet (at least none that have been announced), it is unclear whether the new Viper will be able to hit the previous generation Viper ACR numbers but if nothing else – Ferrari will surely aim to close the gap between the top of the line Chrysler supercar and the new range topping Ferrari.

Only 499 examples of LaFerrari will be built and according to Fiat and Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne, they are all already spoken for – even with a price that is expected to be somewhere in the range of $1.3 million US dollars.

Check out the video below from Ferrari showing their new halo car in action while also highlighting some of the finer points of LaFerrari.